June 22, 2002: Selected No. 1 at the NHL Draft in Toronto, close to his childhood home in Brampton, Ont.

Oct. 10, 2002: Scored a second-period goal in his NHL debut, a 2-1 Columbus win against Chicago. Nash became the first 18-year-old since Mario Lemieux in 1984 to score in his first NHL game.

April 3, 2004: Capped his second NHL season by scoring his 41st goal in the Blue Jackets' season finale, earning a share of the Rocket Richard Trophy and becoming the youngest player in NHL history (19 years, 291 days) to lead the League in goals.

NASH TRADED TO RANGERS

Rangers acquire Nash from Columbus

By NHL.com Staff
Rick Nash, who has been on the trading block since February, has been sent to the Rangers in a multi-player deal that has the Blue Jackets receiving Brandon Dubinsky, Artem Anisimov, Tim Erixon and a first-round pick in the 2013 NHL Draft. READ MORE ›

April 7, 2006: Scored the first of his five career hat tricks in a 6-5 shootout loss to Detroit at Joe Louis Arena.

Jan. 27, 2008: Set an NHL All-Star Game record by scoring only 12 seconds after the opening faceoff at Philips Arena in Atlanta. He scored three goals, becoming the 15th player in All-Star history to record a hat trick.

March 12, 2008: Named the fifth captain in Blue Jackets history.

March 7, 2009: Scored his fourth career hat trick with three unassisted goals in an 8-2 victory in Detroit. The last player to score a hat trick without help was Maurice Richard -- in 1948.

April 8, 2009: Scored with 5:30 remaining in regulation to force overtime in Chicago, earning the point the Blue Jackets needed to clinch the franchise's first Stanley Cup Playoff berth. He finished the season with a career-high 79 points. The Jackets were swept by Detroit in the opening round of the playoffs.

June 18, 2009: Awarded the NHL's Foundation Player Award, given annually to the player who exemplifies "commitment, perseverance and teamwork to enrich the lives of people in his community."

July 3, 2009: Signed an eight-year, $62.4 million contract extension that began with the 2010-11 season. The deal triggered a wave of contract extensions for other players.

Feb. 4, 2010: Played his 500th career NHL game vs. Dallas.

Feb. 28, 2010: Won a gold medal at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver as a member of Team Canada when Sidney Crosby's overtime goal gave the Canadians a 3-2 win against the United States.

Nov. 10, 2011: Scored his 500th career point (an assist) in a 6-3 loss to Chicago.

Feb. 28, 2012: Acknowledged he had asked to be traded after being told the Blue Jackets planned to rebuild. For weeks, he had dismissed trade talk as "media speculation."

April 7, 2012: Played his final game as a Blue Jacket and scored his 30th goal of the season (and 289th of his career) in Columbus' 7-3 win against the New York Islanders. It was his fifth consecutive season with 30 or more goals.

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I don't have a crystal ball. Predicting is a real complicated thing. If we stay healthy, have enough depth and get the good goaltending we think we're going to have, you can go all the way. But a lot of things have to happen. There's going to be a lot of teams that think the same thing. Everyone made deals. We're all are optimistic about where we'll end up.

— Rangers general manager Glen Sather after being asked if he's constructed a team that can win the Stanley Cup before their 4-1 win against the Predators on Monday